Tips on growing terrific tomatoes

Chattanooga Times Free Press, Jul 31, 2010

There seem to be differing reports on tomatoes grown in the Chattanooga area. They are either doing great or poorly this year.
Tomatoes are grown in almost every home vegetable garden. People get immense satisfaction from growing them.
Tomatoes generally love the summer heat and adequate rain supplied by the Tennessee Valley. However, in some years, the fruit don’t turn out like the catalog pictures. Gardeners report that they have fertilized and watered their tomatoes diligently. Still, some of the fruit grow less than perfect or downright ugly.
Here are several problems that are often seen in Chattanooga-area gardens. Read closely then use these written words to improve your garden.
FREAKY FRUIT
Tomato fruit often can get a blemish called catfacing. The fruits are puckered and can have cavities extending deep into the flesh. With a good imagination, the fruit looks like a cat’s face or other weird creatures.
Catfacing is the result of any disturbance to the flowers during fruit formation. The first clusters of tomatoes often can have this problem. Extreme heat or drought can cause flower injury. Poor pollination leads to abnormally shaped fruits.
Another cause of catfacing is thought to be cold weather during blossoming and perhaps high levels of nitrogen. To manage it, avoid setting out transplants too early in the season.
Some varieties are more prone to catfacing than others. Sometimes fruit get only a thin scar that looks like a zipper running down the side of the fruit. Zippering is also the result of improper fruit formation.
Some tomato varieties are prone to fruit cracks. Growth cracks result from rapid fruit growth brought on by plentiful rain and high temperatures. These cracks usually occur around the stem end of the fruit.
INTERNAL PROBLEMS
Perfect-looking fruit sometimes can have internal problems. When ripe fruits are cut, white, hard areas are present in the outer walls and sometimes in the inner cross-walls. This is called internal white tissue.
High temperatures during the ripening period in the field seem to trigger the symptoms. Adequate potassium fertilization has been shown to reduce this problem. Some varieties are more resistant to the problem, especially the high-colored varieties.
TOMATO WOES
Some tomato fruit problems can show up even in the best tomato patch.
Blossom-end rot causes a soft or black area on the bottom of the fruit. It is due to calcium deficiency. The soil usually has plenty of calcium, but the mineral is slow to go up the stem from roots to the fruit.
Abundant rain or a dry period can both cause blossom-end rot. Heavy applications of nitrogen fertilizers or excessive potassium, magnesium, ammonium and sodium also can promote this problem.
Blossom-end rot can be minimized by maintaining uniform moisture. Proper irrigation and mulches help. Use fertilizers higher in phosphates and lower in nitrogen before planting.
The first fruit off the vine often have problems. Once everything balances out, most of the crop is fine.
Tomatoes can get green or yellow shoulders. This problem develops on ripening fruit. Some areas or the entire top of the fruit stays green or yellow. Normally it would turn red. The probable cause is excess heat.
White leathery spots occur when fruit get to much sun. They are sun-scalded. Shading the plants as the fruit develop would help reduce these problems.
MULCH MATTERS
Tomatoes can benefit from good mulch around the growing plants. Many of the above fruit problems can be minimized by mulching the tomatoes. Apply a layer of organic mulch to the base of the plant. This serves as a buffer and prevents soil moisture fluctuation.
Newspapers, straw or pine needles work well. I like using four layers from the Times Free Press as mulch. I prefer using my articles from the garden section. Some gardeners may prefer the sports section for healthier plants.
Contact Tom Stebbins at tstebbins@utk.edu or 855-6113.

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